Suntech announces default, search for financing

[Omaha Steve]

Source: AP-Excite

By JOE McDONALD

BEIJING (AP) - Suntech, one of the world's biggest solar panel manufacturers, said Monday it has defaulted on a $541 million bond payment in the latest sign of the financial squeeze on the struggling global solar industry.

Suntech Power Holdings Ltd.'s announcement was a severe setback for a company lauded by China's Communist government as a leader of efforts to make the country a center of the renewable energy industry. Its founder, Shi Zhengrong, became one of the industry's most prominent entrepreneurs and a billionaire, only to see most of his fortune evaporate as the company's share price plummeted.

The company is "exploring strategic alternatives with lenders and potential investors," David King, who replaced Shi as a CEO last year, said in a statement.

Suntech was due to make a $541 million bond payment on Friday but ran short of cash following heavy losses over the past year.

FULL story at link.


Read more: http://apnews.excite.com/article/20130318/DA53ILFG2.html

[Paul E Ester]

1. Good and Bad/ Cheap solar vs. Jobs.

Good - solar panels are the cheapest they have been

Bad - American Industry can't make money competing with subsidized industry.

Of all the Chinese product categories that the Obama administration could have put tariffs on it chose Chinese solar panels.

That the american consumer could get a Chinese solar panel subsidized by the Chinese government was a huge win for those looking to switch over to renewable energies.

The lure of punitive tariffs is easy to understand: China, through the use of overly generous subsidies to domestic manufacturers, has helped drive down the price of solar panels 80 percent over the past five years and more than 40 percent in just the past 12 months.

In March, the Commerce Department imposed preliminary tariffs of as much as 4.73 percent on Chinese solar panels. The move was seen mainly as a slap on the wrist, given that China sells its modules for about 12 percent less. The tariffs being decided this week stand to be much higher -- as much as 100 percent -- which could have major ramifications, particularly for U.S. companies using Chinese materials in their products. It’s no wonder the solar industry is split on the issue.

The market is already tilted against renewable sources of energy, with fossil fuels cheap, available and benefiting from entrenched tax benefits. Rather than throwing up roadblocks, the U.S. should be encouraging clean energy, regardless of the country of origin.

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2012-05-15/obama-s-tariffs-on-china-s-solar-products-will-cost-u-s-.html

Every solar panel installed is a win in the long run, it doesn't matter that they were not made in the USA.

[Omaha Steve]

3. This reply deserves an R

Wish I could. I would. Except let them be MADE in the USA.

[Left Coast2020]

2. It does matter if you think about it.

[Paul E Ester]

4. That these products be cheap and affordable to the masses is the priority to me.

If we're going to start putting tariffs on cheap chinese products, why hit solar?

How about a tariff on cars AND generators that run on gas.



The tariffs, were a hit to the american solar consumer. If the solar tech isn't cheap and ubiquitous it will always be less efficient than fossil fuels.

[Pterodactyl]

5. It cost 43 Arizona workers their jobs.